Washington (CNN) - Fresh on the heels of Joe Miller's surprising win over Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Republican Senate primary, the Tea Party movement is setting its sights on Delaware.

Now the Delaware Republican Party is taking heed – and taking on – the Tea Party-backed candidate in the state's Republican Senate primary, sparking a war of words between the state's establishment GOP and the Tea Party movement.

Maes released a statement Friday evening saying that he "[C]annot turn my back on the 200,000 voters who nominated me to run for this office."

Earlier Friday, Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck called on Maes to quit his bid for governor, the latest in a string of Colorado Republicans calling on the Tea Party favorite to step down before he is officially certified as the party's nominee.

Washington (CNN) - The New Hampshire Republican hoping to keep an open Senate seat in GOP hands picked up the endorsement of another out of state conservative on Friday.

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma announced his support for Kelly Ayotte, the former New Hampshire Attorney General who also has the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I look forward to having Kelly Ayotte join us in the Senate next year to help defend the Constitution's limitations on federal power and to fight for the fiscal survival of our country," Coburn said in a statement. "She has the experience, the commitment and the integrity to be a strong force for reducing spending, protecting freedom and making government effective yet manageable."

Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is facing calls to end his bid from several Colorado Republican leaders.

UPDATE: A source inside the Maes campaign tells CNN the embattled Republican nominee has decided to stay in the Colorado governor's race, despite increased pressure today for him to drop out.

(CNN) – Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck is calling on fellow Republican Dan Maes to quit his bid for governor, the latest in a string of Colorado Republicans calling on the Tea Party favorite to step down before he is officially certified as the party's nominee later Friday.

"After having a lengthy conversation with Dan Maes, it is clear to me that Dan is struggling to determine the best path for his campaign, his family and for Colorado," said Buck in a statement. "I have decided that I can no longer support his candidacy for governor of Colorado."

Buck's statement comes after revelations Maes had embellished his resume about his business background and accused a Denver bike-sharing program of being an undercover plot orchestrated by the United Nations to advance an environmentalist agenda.

Beck is laughing at critics who are making a big deal over his 'lie.' at last weekend's rally.

(CNN) -Glenn Beck is scoffing at recent attacks from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and others after the Fox News host inaccurately told the crowd at his recent Washington, DC rally that he "held" George Washington's handwritten inaugural address.

"I thought it would be a little easier in the speech," Beck told his radio listeners Thursday as he dismissed the most recent liberal attack directed at him.

The uproar from the left came in response to a comment Beck made during his Restoring Honor rally on the National Mall last weekend in which he said, "I went to the National Archives and held the First Inaugural Address written in his own hand by George Washington."

Turns out the Archives' policy doesn't allow members of the public to touch rare documents like the First Inaugural Address. Instead, Beck was permitted to view the document through plastic – prompting Olbermann to declare "his story that he actually got to hold it…is wrong."

Two Democratic officials confirm President Obama is headed to Philadelphia on September 20 to host a fundraiser for the Senate campaign of Democrat Rep. Joe Sestak, who survived a nasty primary battle that featured Obama backing incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D) over the Congressman.

Top White House officials, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, were enmeshed in a huge controversy over whether they used former President Bill Clinton to dangle before Sestak an advisory job in the executive branch in exchange for him dropping out of the primary contest.

Lawson, known as the "Dean of the Legislature" for his tenure as the longest serving member of Florida's state Senate, is the only African-American state senator from North Florida; Meek is Florida's first ever African-American U.S. Senate nominee.

"Florida desperately needs an independent senator in Washington who will fight for good jobs and economic opportunity, a quality education for every child, and Social Security for all of our seniors regardless of what the political party bosses want," Lawson said in a statement. "Charlie Crist will be exactly that Senator, and I am proud to endorse his candidacy."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are at a stalemate over whether Israeli settlements should continue.

Washington (CNN) - After two days of meetings and talks led by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli and Palestinian leaders leave Washington deadlocked over the contentious issue of Israeli settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met alone behind closed doors Thursday, in a State Department room just outside Clinton's office. The one-on-one meeting followed their on-camera pledges to move the peace process forward and their hardy handshake with Clinton in the middle.

But several diplomatic sources involved in the summit said the two leaders emerged from their meeting in a stalemate over whether Israeli settlements should continue.

The two leaders met with Clinton to give a readout of their meeting.

According to Palestinian delegation member Fadi Elsalameen, the two leaders were very blunt about their opposing views.
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(CNN) - A new national poll indicates that President Barack Obama's approval rating has edged up three points, and it appears that the war in Iraq is behind the bump. But according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, Americans are giving the president bad marks on the economy.

The survey, released Friday, indicates that 50 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing as president, up from 47 percent in last month, with 49 percent disapproving, down two points from August. And Obama's approval on how he's handling the conflict in Iraq now stands at 57 percent, an eight point jump from July. The poll was conducted Wednesday and Thursday, after the president gave a prime time address from the Oval Office on Iraq.

"Obama's decision to remove combat troops from Iraq is very popular," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Only three in ten Americans say that the U.S. should still have combat troops in Iraq, with 28 percent saying that this is the right time to remove them and another four in ten thinking that should have happened before now."

But the poll doesn't suggest that the public's optimistic about Iraq - most say that the remaining U.S. troops will wind up in combat situations and that the Iraqi government won't be able to maintain order once all U.S. troops are removed.

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio has withdrawn from what would have been his first debate with Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, citing his father’s deteriorating health.

(CNN) - Florida Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio is pulling out of what would have been his first debate with Democratic opponent Kendrick Meek, citing the health of his father.

The debate – in which independent candidate and current Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was not scheduled to participate – was set to air on NBC's Meet the Press.

"Unfortunately, the health of Marco's father, Mario Rubio, has significantly deteriorated in the last 48 hours. As a result, Marco plans to stay with his father and family during this time, and will be unable to participate in this Sunday's debate on Meet the Press," said campaign spokesman Alex Burgos.